I imagine you may already be familiar with his work, but "Buddha in the Pali Canon was actually more human than we give him credit for" is a huge theme of Steph

I imagine you may already be familiar with his work, but "Buddha in the Pali Canon was actually more human than we give him credit for" is a huge theme of Stephen Batchelor's recent books such as Confession of a Buddhist Atheist and After Buddhism. His focus on lived experience, pragmatism, and the four great tasks (instead of four noble truths) has really resonated with me.